Life Changing
by Zoranthi
Summary: Each person he met left an imprint on his being, and those imprints no matter how small, made him who he was. They created the strongest man alive. They created Uchiha Itachi.


Each person he met left an imprint on his being, and those imprints no matter how small, made him who he was. They created the strongest man alive. They created Uchiha Itachi.

- Sasuke

Uchiha Itachi was quiet by nature, he was calculating, but most of all he was powerful. Everyone knew that. He exerted an aura of power. It was the one thing everyone feared. The one thing everyone knew about him.

That power made him strong, it made him loved, it made him feared, it made him who he was.

Because that boy was strong in every way, he was brave, dedicated and he was human.

He fought everyday for life, everyday he had to live with the pain and guilt of losing everything. And not once did it become too much. Even on his last day, on his last breath, he never gave up. And he never regretted a moment of his life. Because all twenty-one years of it he spent living for his brother, the single most important thing in the world. The one thing more important than his own life. He spent every second living, protecting and raising his younger brother.

- Kisame

But sometimes even the strongest of men can break. On his weakest days, the broken, exploited, sick individual shined through that frozen exterior.

Hoshigaki Kisame had only seen it once. It was nearly three years after meeting the young Uchiha prodigy. Kisame had never noticed, or maybe he had never cared enough to realize, the younger man was sick. Physically and emotionally. He was tired, and he was sick.

It was on the anniversary of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Uchiha Itachi was no where to be found. He wasn't one base or in his room. His chakra was gone, just gone.

Hoshigaki Kisame, closest to the younger man, was sent to find him.

And he did find him. Standing on the ledge of a ridge overlooking a casm thousands of feet deep. Uchiha Itachi, just stared, down into the dark pits, it made Kisame wonder if, with his eyes, he could see the bottom, if there even was one.

Kisame, stepped forward, opened his mouth to speak but only one thing made him stop. The look on his face. The dead stare in his frozen coal eyes.

He looked so broken, so defeated. It was the first and only time Hoshigake Kisame ever saw Uchiha Itachi as just Itachi. And it was then that he realized. Uchiha Itachi, was just a child, a boy, someone who was thrown into the shinobi world with no regard for his well being. It was then that he realized what kind of monsters truely existed in this world.

-Mikoto and Fugaku

Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku had always loved their first born son. Both for different reasons but nonetheless they loved their child. June 9th was a day neither would ever forget for the rest of their lives. It was the day their precious baby was born. It was also the day Mikoto first saw Fugaku cry. The day she looked into her childs soft, innocent black eyes, she knew he would be great, she knew he would be perfect.

Years later, she wasn't sure exactly when, but she remembered the day she noticed, her baby had grown so strong. She was sure Fugaku had noticed, the way he pushed him to be stronger, better, more perfect. It was almost like he believed Itachi was not enough as he was.

They fought so much. She just wanted her baby to be happy. But Fugaku wanted a Hokage, a warrior, a pawn.

She remained on the sidelines, hopin gin secret that Fugaku would never notice Sasukes potential, his power. She hoped that one of her sons would remain pure.

Fugaku knew he raised a powerful warrior, he knew he'd created the perfect solider. However it was too late when he realized how far his plans had fallen. Indeed he created a solider, but he created a Konoha soldier not an Uchiha solider.

They day of the massacre, Fugaku had been so outraged, how could his son, his own flesh and blood betray him? But Mikoto understood. She knew what was happening and she was secretly proud. But the look in her childs eyes broke her heart. That soft, innocent look had vanished and replaced with it was cold, dark, broken eyes. Showing the damaged, tortured soul within.

"Thank you...for everything."

Those were his last words. And they echoed down the empty halls. She loved her baby. Even after everything, their was no doubt that she always would.

-Naruto

No one could change a person like Uzumaki Naruto, no one could instill such a feeling of self-worth, or just make a person want to change as that boy could. His ocean blue eyes were filled with so much passion. So much hope. It was intoxicating.

That boy was fundamental. He was life changing.

He never ceased to amaze Uchiha Itachi. He had never met a single other person so dedicated to saving another. He knew. He knew that Uzumaki Naruto would save his brother. And that was the only reason why he intrusted everything into that one hyperactive boy.

Because after everything. He only trusted Uzumaki Naruto. He believed in him.

- Itachi

He always took the time to think about his decisions, and looking back, he knew he wouldn't have changed a minute of it.

He knew that maybe he had gone about it all the wrong way, he knew that in trying to protect Uchiha Sasuke he had created a monster. He knew he was destroyed his brother but atleast he wasn't dead.

Even in the end, even after living his live. He would have never chose a different path. Because this way, his brother would always be protected. By his friends, his strength and his own will. He saved his baby brother.

After all, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi was a truely amazing individual. He was the strongest shinobi. He poured every ounce of his life into his one goal to protect Sasuke and Konoha. No other character could even compared. I only wish I could do more than this small dedicatation.<p>

RIP Uchiha Itachi.

You are my hero.


End file.
